Starship Phaser Effects?

[Aslan_chShran]

Will they be like the show or simplified? The major example I have, and one that would really disappoint me, is the Federation phasers... If you watch the battles against the Borg, etc. you can see the phaser energy rolling from the edges of the saucer section, meeting and then firing.... so if, for example, the ship fires to the left, the energy would roll around mostly right to left, meet, and then fire off of the saucer section in a concetrated burst.

I LOVE that graphic, and the sound that goes with it. If all I hear is a phase "PEW! PEW! PEW!" and see a energy bolt firing off our ships randomly, I'll be really disappointed. Anyone know anything about this?

[sintar07]

I doubt they'll simply have the bolts firing randomly from the ship. Especially since they specifically mentioned tactical maneuvering as a staple of starship combat. It seems to me that if one must protect certain parts of the ship based on what systems were present there, that one could expect the weapons systems to be placed appropriately as well. Unfortunately, this is little more than theory as of yet. I have no solid data on the weapons systems in particular.

An aside... I also love the visuals in Star Trek... The way the energy rolls through the array is just so cool... Plus, it's unique in science fiction. Three cheers, fellow phaser fan! :D

[Debaser]

I doubt they'll simply have the bolts firing randomly from the ship. Especially since they specifically mentioned tactical maneuvering as a staple of starship combat. It seems to me that if one must protect certain parts of the ship based on what systems were present there, that one could expect the weapons systems to be placed appropriately as well. Unfortunately, this is little more than theory as of yet. I have no solid data on the weapons systems in particular.

An aside... I also love the visuals in Star Trek... The way the energy rolls through the array is just so cool... Plus, it's unique in science fiction. Three cheers, fellow phaser fan! :D

If I'm not mistaken, that particular pahser effect you';re talking about is called a collimeter (not sure if I'm spelling that right), and yes, it's awesome!:D

[Deyvid]

That rolling effect along the phaser array was also one of my favorite effects. That is one of the many reasons that the Enterprise-D is my favorite of all the Enterprise ships and one of my favorite space ships in all of sci-fi. It would be sweet if that effect were to make it into the game.

But that type of phaser array may not appear on most starfleet ships, since it was mainly on the Galaxy class starship. I forget if the Enterprise-E had that type of phaser array.

I fully expect the accurate phaser sound for both handheld and ship-based phasers, but they may just have the phasers jet out from designated phaser emitters instead of the Galaxy-class style phaser array.

It would be great if we could choose which style of phaser system we want on our ships, whether we want the phaser strip like on the Galaxy class saucer section, or set phaser emitters, or the phaser bursts or pulses (instead of a constant beam) like on the Defiant.

[Burchenall]

I hope they're ingame... I think that effect is awesome too. It's in BC, but as the phasers are almost pink, I didn't like the effect very much.

[Silverspar]

I hated that phaser array to be honest, and the Galaxy class was fugly ship. I never liked that style or design. As far as phaser arrays, that's how they work in Star Trek, the Sovereign class has the same effect, provided the director and art director decide to use it. Although, with the exception of the Best of Both Worlds episode, the Galaxy phaser array was really slow at firing compared to say, oh, every other ship in the fleet. And you really can't say it did more damage either, considering the Sovereign class uses phasers deisgned for starbases.

[Bailo]

I thought i was the only one who loved the fact that the phaser energy rolled around the array to meet in the middle and fire off...i'm happy now :) they use the effect in bridge commander too...so i really hope they use it on STO. And debaser..you are right it is the Gravitic Beam Collimator System. According to memory alpha though it is also used in the starfleet navigational arrays.
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Collimator

[DFawkes]

I certainly love that effect. It's like the revving up of a chaingun - you hear it, and know pain is imminent! I'm sure it won't be the only effect (Defiant does blasts of energy), but you couldn't have STO without that effect. Well you could, but it'd be nicer with.

[CurtisWT]

I certainly love that effect. It's like the revving up of a chaingun - you hear it, and know pain is imminent! I'm sure it won't be the only effect (Defiant does blasts of energy).

The Defiant had a different type of phaser array, Pulse Phaser Cannons rather then the standard phaser array on the Galaxy class.

http://www.st-intelligence.com/ship_database/dom/def.php

[cavilier210]

Actually, i think it was found that pulse phasers were more effective during the dominion war. Also, only the larger ships use the array, smaller ships use "emitters". i guess the explanation is that instead of having the power of one phaser, you'd have the power of all phasers in that array focused into the one blast. crazy cool, lol.

i was just thinking about how federation ships aren't as fully equiped for battle as any other opposing ship, but if you look at it, federation ships are bristling with phasers, lol.

[Ontas]

Actually, i think it was found that pulse phasers were more effective during the dominion war.

Sure, the Defiant's pulse phasers could chew through enemy vessels, but note also that these pulse phasers did not have the range of motion or ability to lock on as seen in full phaser arrays. The Defiant was a smaller and more maneuverable vessel that could easily point her guns at an enemy starship, so the pulse phasers worked, but they're not necessarily the end-all in phaser design. Notice that as a lighter attack ship, the Defiant would duck and dodge around enemy fleets in combat scenes, scoring a few devastating phaser hits on each target and then moving on. Larger capital ships might be more interested in focusing fire on a single enemy vessel until it is destroyed or disabled, which can be accomplished through the phaser arrays' demonstrated ability to maintain fire even on a moving target so long as they stay in the range and firing arc of that weapon.

As to the OP point, I agree completely. If your ship is equipped with a phaser array I would love to see the accompanying visual effect made famous in TNG. I think, at the very least, the sound effect of charging and firing is a must. It remains one of my all-time favorite Trek sound effects.

It might also be interesting if phaser arrays of varying "level" had different discharge times. That way, you might be able to get a really powerful phaser that is handicapped by a longer charge before firing, or a weaker array that takes less time to charge and thus can be used more frequently. This way the charging before firings phasers wouldn't just be graphical icing on the cake, but could play a real role in balance and tactical roles of a starship.

Anyone have any thoughts on this idea?

[cavilier210]

i like it!!

think maybe verying phasers whould have varying colors?

[Ontas]

think maybe verying phasers whould have varying colors?

Sure! While some colors seem more identified with other races (like green or purple), we've seen Federation phasers of several different colors, ranging from blue to yellow/orangish to red to so bright that they appear almost white. These colors could easily indicate the intensity of a phaser blast. For instance, if they followed the star luminosity spectrum, red phasers could be weaker but with less downtime, then yellow/orange phasers in the middle ground, blue phasers for intense bursts that take a while to charge, and white hot blasts perhaps for pulse phasers or some kind of shipboard phaser overload.

The order is up to debate, but I would rather not see Federation ships firing every color of the rainbow. Many races in Star Trek are given unique color signatures, though some cross over. For instance, many Klingon and Romulan disruptor blasts are green, but this isn't always true. The Borg, on the other hand, started off with no green at all in their color pallet. Then, at some point between "Descent" and "First Contact," they must have assimilated an interior designer with a green fixation. By the end of Voyager, their ships were so washed out in sickening green light that I found it almost unwatchable (and green's my favorite color!)

So while space and the many engine glows, deflector dishes, torpedoes, and energy blasts that consume it in the Stark Trek universe are very colorful, I hope we see the designers sticking to colors that have been suggested before for each of the respective factions.

[cavilier210]

ya, i think federation should keep the red/orange color. plus how many races use phasers anyway?

[Bailo]

Actually, i think it was found that pulse phasers were more effective during the dominion war.
Actually the Phaser Pulse Cannon was developed for the Borg. As shown here:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Phaser_cannon#Background
and in the Defiant Class development logo shown here
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/schematics/emblem-defiant-development.jpg
(Note the "Assimilate This")

[cavilier210]

lol, i know they were made for being against the borg, but a nice side effect was how the pulse phaser could decimate a dominion ship, while normal phasers had trouble

[Trekkie]

Because phasers are such an iconic part of the Star Trek universe, I highly doubt that phaser effects will be "simplified" and I will be slightly disappointed if they are.